Suspect held in connection with Zaandam murder

Police in Amsterdam Noord arrested a man there Tuesday night possibly linked to the brash, daytime murder of underworld figure Lucas Boom. The suspect was taken into custody because he matched the description of a man spotted at the scene of a burnt-out, brown Volkswagen Transporter van. Officers investigating the murder released similar details about the getaway vehicle shortly after the shooting. Police believe the smouldering van found on the Achtersteven at about 4:30 p.m. was in fact used as part of the crime. A report of a flabby, white or light-coloured 1.80-meter tall man wearing a blue tracksuit and a baseball hat was reported at the fire’s location, and circulated on crime watch website Burgernet by 4:56 p.m. The arrest was made less than two hours later. Boom, the 43-year-old victim, was killed in broad daylight on J. Kruijverstraat in Zaandam, in front of a school playground where children were running around. The kids there said three gunmen dressed in black opened fire after exiting the brown van, according to Parool. Inside, children dropped to the floor and hid under their desks. The victim was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison last year in connection with a cocaine bust at the Antwerp, Belgium port. Investigators seized 128 kilograms of cocaine there in May 2010. His co-defendant, Patrick Brisban, was assassinated on December 2, 2012 in Diemen. Several others were charged in connection with the case. Among those arrested was K1 fighter Hesdy Gerges, Parool reported. Boom was a known accomplice of famous Netherlands organised crime boss Willem Holleeder. His attorney, Gerald Roethof, was shocked by the murder. “My client merrily rode around yesterday on his scooter. If he had any idea that they wanted to assassinate him, he would not have been riding around unprotected,” Roethof told AD. “He did not expect this, and neither did I.”